By Hunt Palmer
LSU based its early SEC Tournament pitching plans around William Schmidt.
Those got tossed out the proverbial window half an hour before Tuesday night’s game. Schmidt went to warm up at Hoover Metropolitan Stadium and informed the coaching staff he was unavailable.
“He said his back tightened up,” said LSU head coach Jay Johnson. “Was walking funny. It’s just like, we’re not doing this. And I don’t anticipate him being available (in the tournament), but I talked to (trainer) Isaac (Trujillo), you know, we’ll get a little more info tomorrow and get him fixed or figured out or whatever we need to do.”
In that moment, LSU needed a starting pitcher. Grant Fontenot stepped up in a pinch and delivered. The senior right-hander delivered seven outs and only allowed one earned run. LSU’s season was on the line, and it lives to Wednesday night when LSU takes on Auburn.
Still, the blow is a tough one for the Tigers to take considering the severity of the challenge–five wins in six days. Without Schmidt on Tuesday, Johnson deployed three of his best four or five options for an extended outing.
Fontenot fired 36 pitches and is likely unavailable on Wednesday. Gavin Guidry stepped up with 59 pitches to get 10 outs, and Deven Sheerin got the last 10 with 47 offerings. Those two are almost certainly down versus Auburn with the season, again, in the balance.
The Tigers are short on length with Casan Evans returning from arm discomfort and Zac Cowan having thrown 60 pitches on Saturday.
Without Schmidt, the numbers compress.
The best way to compensate for pitching issues is to slug through them offensively. LSU may have lost a key piece to that attack on Tuesday night when Omar Serna left the game after a nasty slide into home plate.
“He got his hand stepped on directly, and it was ugly,” Johnson said after the game. “I mean, it was really bloody. If you don’t like blood, you would not have liked to see it. Had it wrapped up. I’m assuming he got stitches. Have no idea other than that.”
Serna did not return.
The freshman slugger was responsible for two Tiger runs to that point and has been among LSU’s most potent hitters. His absence will be felt. LSU overcame it and its starter’s scratch to stay in the fight for 24 more hours.
This group doesn’t have the luxury of resting key pieces or looking forward to NCAA Tournament play. It’s win or go home. For good. Tuesday night’s effort was good enough on both ends.
“We’re a heck of a lot better offensive team than when we played (Oklahoma) the second week of SEC play,” Johnson said. “It might as well just be a different program, honestly. (Tuesday night), we pitched well and did that. If we do that, we can we can win the next game in front of us, and that’s the one tomorrow. That’s all we’ll worry about.”
LSU and Auburn are scheduled to face off at 8:00 in the lats of four games on Wednesday.
More LSU Stories
